All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

As I write this review, All the Light We Cannot See is the #1 best selling novel in America. That position does not often go to so-called "literary" fiction such as this; more frequently the top bestseller is genre fiction, a mystery or thriller, for example. Doerr has accomplished the feat of combining all the best attributes of both "literary" and "popular" fiction and has produced a book to be savored by all different kinds of readers. Well done, Mr. Doerr.

Those who appreciate lyrical writing will find it in abundance. Images and scenes and sounds are so vivid that they are experienced rather than just read about. The novel is full of phrases and sentences that are so beautiful they snatch your breath away. Looking for a suspenseful thriller? Hefty doses here. How about some romance? Even a bit of that. War stories catch your interest? The time and place are France and Germany during World War II. Do you require your reading to have serious implications, say about such matters as the nature of good and evil and the resilience of human beings? Oh, yes! This novel even includes much discussion and information about scientific matters, such as the properties of light and the construction of radios and the attributes of snails.

But it is surely Doerr's storytelling abilities that have turned this into a bestseller. No matter what the literary preferences and pretensions, almost all readers appreciate a well-told story with believable and sympathetic characters, and this novel succeeds on that count, unquestionably, beyond a doubt.

The plot focuses on two young people: Marie-Laure, a blind girl from Paris who flees with her father when the city is taken by the Germans; and Werner, a precocious orphan boy from Germany whose special talent with radios lands him in an elite academy for Hitler Youth. Their stories, told in alternating (very short) chapters, follow them from childhood to coming-of-age amidst the Allied bombing of Saint-Malo, where their two lives converge.

I cannot say enough good things about this novel. Everyone should read it. (All the Light We Cannot See was a finalist for the National Book Award and is a strong contender for the Pulitzer.)